Supra- National Regulation?

Transcription

1 Appendix G Supra- National Regulation? International Regulation Regulatory Treaties Supra-national quasi-regulatory agencies ITU WTO WIPO Source: Eli M. Noam, Supra-national Regulation for Supra-national Telecommunications Carriers? International Financial Lending Institutions as regulators Foreign Intervention in national proceedings Regional collaboration EU EBU Source: Eli M. Noam, Supra-national Regulation for Supra-national Telecommunications Carriers? International Telecommunication Union (ITU) Oldest inter-governmental organization in world (1864) Specialized agency of UN, in Geneva Promotes and develops efficient telecom facilities Provides telecom support to developing countries 1

2 WTO World Trade Organization Since 1995, succeeding GATT Mission: lowering of trade barriers 150 countries China 2001 Russia expected in 2007 Includes a Council for Trade-related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights and also TRIPS Council Includes a Council for Trade in Services (GATS) Lower level: Information Technology Agreement (ITA) TRIPS Pushed by U.S. Requirements for lowering WTO leverage Has powerful enforcement mechanism Requires: Copyright and patent protection Copyright for computer software No national preferences Chip designs New plants Trademarks and Trade dress WIPO World Intellectual Property Organization concluded two treaties updating copyright and related rights for digital media Mueller, Milton and Mathiason, John. Making Sense of Internet Governance : Defining Principles and Norms in a Policy Context, Internet Governance Project, Mar P. 5. International Organization for Standardization (ISO) Each member nation has one representative in the ISO Th U it d St t The United States representative is the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) 2

3 ISO Headquarters Geneva, Switzerland Technical committees compose mostly of industry experts formulate recommended standards which are voted on at the General Assembly or by written ballot. ISO members may choose to follow or ignore the standards ISO reviews recommended standards every five years ITU standards are also not binding for member states. Regional Standards Organizations (RSOs), such as, for telecom Standards Committee T1 of the United States European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) Japanese Telecommunications Technology Committee (TTC) 3

4 Politicization of Standardization Political bargaining, not technological decision making, also often dominates national and international standardmaking bodies. By promoting standards, or preventing them, firms affect the market Desire to protect a country s hi-tech industry prevents global standards International Lending Institutions as Regulators: World Bank Advocates privatization, and separation of telecom operations, government regulation, and ownership Linked to financial support Very effective Tetrault, McCarthy. Overview of Telecommunications Regulation, Edited by Hank Intven. InfoDev, p Television without Frontiers Directive Article 4: European broadcasters must reserve a majority of fbroadcast time for European works Updated 1989 Curwen, Peter, Television without frontiers - can culture be harmonized? European Business Review, Vol. 99:6, Bradford;

5 Article 5: Allocation of 10% of time and budget to European works, excluding news, sports, games advertising and teletext services required. Curwen, Peter, Television without frontiers - can culture be harmonized? European Business Review, Vol. 99:6, Bradford; Which country is responsible for a TV channel is determined by the location of head office and the place where major programming decisions are made. Article 3a Member States should draw up lists of major events to be viewed in in unencoded form, ensuring public is not denied access to free broadcasts of events considered to be of major importance to society (i.e. sporting events) Clarification of allowances for advertising and teleshopping slots Windows for teleshopping programs on general channel must be a min. duration of 15 minutes Allowed a max. of 8 windows per day Total duration must not exceed 3 hours per day 5

6 Government must require TV broadcasters to add visual warning for unencoded broadcasts that may be harmful to kids 2007 Brussels Proposals Expansion of broadcast & TV rules to Internet for linear, regularly l scheduled d programs. 6